US CMA Salary and Career Opportunities in the Middle East
With the increasing demand for US CMA in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, the number of candidates taking the exam from these countries is also increasing parallelly.
Most of the candidates who are thinking of taking the exam or who are already preparing for the exam might be wondering about the salary of a US CMA professional in the Middle East and other countries.
For sure, a US CMA professional working in Dubai and Europe earns higher than CMA professionals from any other part of the world. Many reasons constitute this high pay other than the high cost of living in these countries.
This blog will take you through the average salaries of US CMA professionals in different industries and job titles, as per the recent job survey reports by Job portals.
Contents
US CMA Salary and Career Opportunities in the Middle East
US CMA Average Salary in Dubai vs the US:
Factors Affecting the Salary of a US CMA Professional in the Middle East:
Benefits of Working as a CMA Professional in the Middle East:
US CMA Professional Future in the Middle East:
IMA Global Survey Report Predictions:
US CMA Average Salary in Dubai Vs US:
Based on the reports by salary explorer, the average salary of a US CMA professional is around AED 143,000 ($39,000) per year in Dubai. In comparison, a US CMA professional working in New York City earns around $130,000 per year.
This depicts US CMA credential is one of a kind and can get you a handsome salary anywhere in the world.
The US CMA is one of the highly valued financial certifications that is becoming even more popular these days. US CMA certification can give access to an infinite number of career opportunities. It is more like a profession that is the talk of the town and is high on the trend with countless students taking the CMA test every exam window.
The main interesting thing about this trend is the upward growing salary of US CMA professionals from year to year, industry to industry, which further signifies why the US CMA is one of the best career options.
The Middle East and Europe have several countries, and the median salary for a US CMA professional varies for each country.
As per the salary reports analyzed by IMA over the past year, CMAs working in Saudi and UAE make the most in the middle east region, while CMAs working in Egypt, Jordan and Philippines make the least.
Here is the Breakdown of the Average Salaries Earned by US CMA Professionals:
Salary of US CMA Professional by Region or Country
| Country | Annual Average Salary (USD Per Annum) |
| UAE | $39,000 |
| Canada | $72,500 |
| Lebanon | $21,150 |
| USA | $118,500 |
| India | $16,300 |
| Egypt | $8,500 |
| Jordan | $14,200 |
| Saudi Arabia | $38,000 |
| China | $29,000 |
| Philippines | $13,250 |
Egypt, though, holds the highest number of US CMA working professionals with the least pay among the other Middle East Countries.
UAE and Saudi have the affluency for being the countries offering the highest mean salary for US CMA professionals working there.
Factors Affecting the Salary of a US CMA Professional in the Middle East:
When it comes to the salary of a professional in any field or industry, not just a CMA, there are many factors that affect your average salary.
Some of the valid and viable factors that can show a massive impact on CMA professionals’ salary are
- Industry
- Job title
- Ability and skill of the candidate
- Experience
- Economic impact
- Level of certification
- Age
- Gender
Let’s look into how these factors affect the average salary of US CMA professionals working in the Middle East and other countries.
Industry:
Most industries these days need a CMA for their business. Even the most technology-oriented companies will have a CMA to handle their accounts and take strategic decisions for the overall benefit of the organization.
This is the main reason for the upward trend in the growing career options available and the increasing salaries for CMA professionals.
As a US CMA fresher, here is the list of industries you can look forward to working in:
- Taxation
- Accounting
- Investment Banking
- Consulting services
- Data Analysis
- Fund management
- IT
- Business Valuation
- Educational services
- Insurance
- Manufacturing Industries
- Utility and Communication services
Job Titles:
This is another crucial factor that may also be considered the sole factor that has the ability to determine your average annual salary as a US CMA professional. Most companies while deciding the pay of a particular role, look at the industry average pay and market average pay for the job title and its role.
They use these statistics to determine the standard pay for that role in the business. For example, if Internal Auditor has a market value of USD0.5 million salary per year, companies will take this number and fix the salary close to this number.
Standard fixed salary can be negotiated based on the candidate’s experience and skills they bring to the table.
Here is the list of job titles which most companies hire a US CMA professional for:
- Business Analyst
- Cost Accountant
- Financial Controller
- Finance Analyst
- Internal Auditor
- Budget Analyst
- Treasurer
Skill Set:
CMA professionals bring a wide set of skills to the table for any company. Here is the list of skills that any CMA professional will have and are used as a gauge to compare them.
- Strategical planning and forecasting – It is the ability to analyze, and evaluate the plan of the business and thereby forecast the risk involved and manage it.
- Technology and Analytics- It is the skill to organize, visualize and assimilate the data available for smart decision-making.
- Reporting and Internal Control- Knowing how to segregate the duties to minimize the risk of error plus measuring the actual organization’s performance against standards and reporting the same.
- Professional Ethics- Maintaining respect for work, team members, discipline, and legal compliance at all times.
- Business Acumen and Decision making – The ability to comprehend, judge, and call the best decision that benefits the organization in a particular area.
- Performance Supervision & Guidance- Effective communication in a way to guide and inspire your team members to reach the targets in a positive tone.
Experience:
Experience is another factor that can bring a stunning change to your salary in any field. With increasing years of experience, it is outright that your salary also increases proportionately. CMA professionals in their 30s earn a salary double or even triple what a CMA professional makes in their 20s.
The average salary earned by any CMA professional goes up with the increasing experience in the same.
Gender:
Everyone knows, and it is a sad truth, that men at any age in most professions earn higher when compared to females.
Though it is the same trend in most industries, CMA professionals, if they put in more effort and have good skills, have the capability to earn high and similar in both genders.
Economy Impact:
The economy is one of the factors that can hype up or bring down the hiring market. As we all have seen and experienced the impact of COVID on the job market, It is well proven that, in a downgraded economy, companies will look forward to firing the current employee, whereas, in an uptrend economy, companies will hire new employees left and right.
After the impact of COVID-19 went down, the economy slowly improved, and companies started hiring more employees which will have a positive impact on the hiring of CMA professionals as well.
The average salary is also decided based on the economy and companies’ profitability.
Level of Certification:
Here, the level of certification indicates the number of attempts made by the professional to clear their CMA exam. Though most companies look forward to hiring the US CMA professionals who cleared their CMA papers on the first attempt, chances are that companies these days are not looking at this attempt count as keenly as before.
But based on the attempts, companies tend to gauge your ability and skill set and decide the salary as per.
Benefits of Working as a CMA Professional in the Middle East:
One of the most admirable things about the CMA course is that it makes you thorough with accounting as well as management skills. These are the same skills that most companies what their employee to have, handling company finances along with being efficient in manpower management and strategic decision-making.
CMAs also have the advantage of climbing up the promotion ladder quickly to become senior-level managers and middle-level Managers.
Having a CMA credential these days is more like hitting the jackpot and can even give you a chance of becoming a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Chief Finance Officer (CFO).
Here is a table depicting the percentage of US CMA’s working at various management levels:
| Position | Percentage |
| Top Management | 4% |
| Middle-Level management | 54% |
| Senior Level Management | 20% |
| Lower-Level Management | 21% |
US CMA Professional Future in the Middle East:
As demand and reports suggest, the demand for US CMA professionals will be even higher in the coming years. This signifies a brighter future for a CMA professional in the Middle East.
With the immense growth in the Middle East economy, demand for jobs is also set to increase. So, it is the best time to start your CMA journey to hop to the trend and make your career top tier.
IMA Global Survey Report Predictions:
As per the global job survey conducted by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) in the year 2021 from data collected from over 30.000 IMA members from 79 countries all over the world, here are the predictions for CMA professionals’ job trends in recent years.
- This survey clearly depicts the salary made by a CMA is far higher than the salary of a Non-CMA professional.
- 2021 showed a steep increase in the total number of CMA professionals from 53% to 62%. The overall count of CMAs throughout the world is expected to skyrocket by 80% by the end of 2023.
- It was evident that Covid 19 had an immense impact on the employment opportunities of CMAS and the demand picked back up in 2021. The demand is further expected to move up in the coming years.
- Professionals with CMA credentials showed to earn more than a non-CMA qualified professional working in the same position.
Conclusion:
After all the analysis, we can say there is no better time than now to take the CMA course and get that CMA credential.
